Lady Wolves Stumble Against Lady Bears

WESSON – The Co-Lin Women's Basketball team returned from break with a home contest against Baton Rouge on Thursday, January 9. The Lady Bears beat the Lady Wolves, 76-63.

"The first game back from a long holiday break was rusty for us," stated Co-Lin head coach Dr. Britta Stephens. "We did a very poor job defensively and gave up way too many easy open shots to Baton Rouge. It is very difficult to win when you give up 42 points in the paint and turn the ball over 22 times. I thought their pressure really bothered us in the fourth quarter and that lead to us only being able to score nine points at the end."

The Lady Wolves had a strong start to the game as they opened the first quarter with a 10-4 scoring run to hold the lead at that margin with 6:39 left on the clock. The Lady Bears responded with a 6-4 scoring run to cut the Lady Wolves lead down to 14-10 with 3:55 remaining. The Lady Bears then closed out the quarter with a 5-2 scoring run as the Lady Wolves held a 16-15 lead as the quarter ended.

The Lady Bears continued to fight back as they opened the second quarter with a 6-5 scoring run to tie the game at 21-21 with 6:06 left to play. The Lady Bears then went on a 10-6 scoring run to hold a 31-27 lead over the Lady Wolves with 2:25 left to play in the first half. The Lady Bears then closed out the half with a 6-4 scoring run to hold a 37-31 lead over the Lady Wolves as the two teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime.

The Lady Wolves blitzed the Lady Bears with seven unanswered points to open the third quarter and held a 38-37 lead with 8:44 left on the clock. The teams then traded baskets and leads over the next few minutes as the Lady Bears outscored the Lady Wolves, 12-11, to tie the game at 49-49 with 3:20 remaining. The teams then matched scoring outputs to close out the quarter adding five points each and leaving the game tied at 54-54.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Lady Bears as they put lots of defensive pressure on the Lady Wolves and outscored them, 22-9, to seal the 76-63 win.

Angel Wilkinson (Brookhaven) posted a double-double performance with 30 points and 12 rebounds, leading all players in both categories, along with five assists and four steals. Eymani Key (Lafayette, LA) had 14 points with two rebounds, and two assists.

Kamaiyah Pruitt (Pass Christian) had eight points with six rebounds, Amari Barnes (Tylertown) had six points, Maddison Mitchell (Baton Rouge, LA) had three points, and Jamyria Robinson (St. Martin) had two points to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves.

Co-Lin is now 10-5 overall and will return to action as they open MACCC play on the road at Northwest Mississippi on Monday, January 13. Tip-off between the Lady Wolves and Lady Rangers is set for 5:30 p.m. at Howard Coliseum in Senatobia.